Apprentice letting agents schedule appointments with clients to display and lease real estate to prospective residents. In addition, they promote the rental property via advertising and community involvement. They also help with regular communication and administrative duties.
Responsibilities
Throughout your apprenticeship, you may help:
- advise clients about the letting process
- set up viewings and show potential tenants around the property
- select responsible, reliable tenants
- prepare tenancy agreements and inventories
- check tenant references
- make sure all aspects of the letting meet legal requirements
- meet landlords and advise on rents
- arrange for maintenance to be carried out
- work with solicitors, builders, cleaners and suppliers
- handle any problems with the property.
Salary
- Starting salaries for an apprentice is £16,000 per year.
- Experienced letting agents can earn up to £30,000 per year.
Working hours
Every week, many letting agents work more than 40 hours. In addition, they often work evenings and weekends to accommodate their clients’ schedules.
Many letting agents make significant efforts to network and attend community events to meet potential clients. Even though they frequently work irregular hours, many can choose their schedules.
Some letting agents work part-time and combine real estate and other interests.
Working environment
The workplaces of letting agents may range from a one-person enterprise to a global organisation with several branch offices. Franchise agreements with national or regional real estate businesses are common among real estate professionals. Under this arrangement, the agent pays a fee to be associated with a well-known real estate organisation.
Some letting agents work in regular office environments, while others work from home. Letting agents spend a substantial amount of time away from their workstations in both situations, showing customers residences, travelling to assess properties for sale, and meeting prospective clients.
Qualifications
Qualifications you can achieve as an apprentice letting agent include:
- Level 2 Housing and Property Management Assistant – Entry requirements for this level include some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship. This qualification will take 12 months to complete.
You may also be able to gain relevant experience for lettings agent work through a junior estate agent intermediate apprenticeship.
Skills
On a letting agent apprenticeship, you’ll learn:
- customer service skills
- the ability to sell products and services
- the ability to use your initiative
- business management skills
- active listening skills
- excellent verbal communication skills
- persuading and negotiating skills
- the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently.
Career path and progression
With experience, you could progress to a management role or move into estate agency work.
You could specialise in particular types of letting like commercial property, holiday or student letting services.